


Not Giving Up (On You)

by firefilia



Series: I Found It All On My Own [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, broganes, but otherwise enjoy, i love these two, if you share this as ship ill hunt you down
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 05:59:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14994317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefilia/pseuds/firefilia
Summary: A 21-year-old Shiro bites the bullet for his peers and goes to promote the Garrison at a local middle school. He meets a grieving little boy in need of a friend. Aka Broganes first meeting.





	Not Giving Up (On You)

Initially, when Iverson had asked his squad if any of them wanted to go talk to middle schoolers about the Garrison, nobody had raised their hand. Then, of course: “If none of you volunteer, I’ll pick someone.” He’d slowly raised his hand, earning what passed as a grin from the commander.

“Excellent! Thank you, Shirogane. Hopefully, your classmates will learn to follow your example.”

Sighs of relief from his peers sound around the room, and he resigns himself to his fate. It can't possibly be that terrible.

\---

Now here he was, standing in front of a room of eighth graders, most of them either truly disinterested or feigning it while stealing curious glances at his uniform, save for a clump of girls gazing at him with their chins in their hands.

“Class, I want to introduce you to Mr. Takashi Shirogane. Mr. Shirogane works at the Galaxy Garrison, and he’s here today to tell you all about his wonderful school and all about space. Doesn’t that sound exciting? The floor is yours Mr. Shirogane.”

Shiro laughed as casually as he could with nearly thirty little pairs of eyes on him, clearing his throat. One of the girls sighed dreamily, quite loudly, the teacher shushing her.

“Thank you very much, ma’am, please, just call me Shiro. Now, who thinks they can name all the planets in our solar system?”

As several students only managed to get through a few before stumbling, Shiro noted a small, pale, longer-haired boy at the back growing increasingly irritated. The boy’s hair looked as if it hadn’t been brushed in years, his oversized t-shirt and cargo shorts horribly mismatched, just as rumpled as his hair. With each failure to answer the question, the boy’s lips seemed to purse tighter and tighter until he seemingly couldn’t take it anymore, shooting up from his desk and rattling off:

“Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. This isn't first grade.”

The boy slammed back into his seat, only to shoot up again to mumble; “And Pluto if you count that. But I don’t.” Then threw himself back down, crossing his arms and glaring at the ground, leaving the whole class staring at him with wide eyes, even Shiro slightly speechless.

“Uh- okay. Very good, uh. What’s your name?”

The kid didn’t respond, glaring at the ground as if he could set it aflame. The teacher pressed a sympathetic hand to his shoulder and motioned for him to continue.

The kid continued in silence for the rest of his talk, jumping and looking away the single time Shiro caught him actively paying attention. Shiro noticed the glaring shift to a sparkle of sorts while he explained the piloting course. He had to bite back his smile. The teacher came up to him after dismissing the students for lunch. The kid now sat at his desk glowering at his lunch box.

“I’m so sorry about Keith’s little outburst during your presentation, he’s been having a tough time lately.”

Shiro didn’t usually let his curiosity get the best of him like this, but there was something about the kid. “What happened? If I’m not overstepping.”

“It’s alright, dear. His father passed away rather recently. He’s been moved into a group home, and he’s… well, they warned me he’s not taking any of it very well. Seems like a normal response if you ask me. It’s a shame really, he’s a brilliant boy, but his grades have only been dropping since… well.”

“He doesn’t have any other family?”

The woman shook her head, and in a much quieter voice: “Nobody.”

Shiro felt his chest tighten at the word. He couldn’t even begin to imagine…

“Do you mind if I talk to him for a moment?” The words had come out of his mouth before he’d even realized it.

“Talk all you want. Don’t get your hopes up though.”

The woman squeezed his shoulder before wandering back to her desk.

The kid, Keith, tensed as he approached, though remained vigilant in trying to glare a hole through his lunch. Shiro pulled up a chair and took a seat.

“Hi. You’re Keith, right?”

Keith just grunted in response. Shiro took this as a sign of hope, extending his hand.

“I’m Shiro. Nice to meet you.”

“I know your name already, I’m not a dumbass.”

The extended hand was ignored. Not as encouraging.

“You seem like a very smart boy.”

“You seem nervous. What, afraid of a kid?”

Shiro blinked at the sharpness behind the boy’s voice. Sure, he’d expected something unpleasant, but the speed of the taunt shocked him. He took a deep breath.

“Alright. I’ll be honest with you, you be honest with me?” Keith rose a bushy eyebrow in question. Fine. That was more than Shiro thought he’d get. “I’ve never given a lecture like that before. How’d I do?”

“It was stupid. You should’ve asked harder questions.”

Well then. “I appreciate your opinion, Keith, but you know your classmates wouldn’t have known the answers.”

“But I do.”

“So, you’re interested in space?” Silence. “Come on. Your turn. I was honest with you.”

“I didn’t agree to tell you anything.” It was Shiro’s turn to raise an eyebrow. Keith huffed. “Fine. I dunno what to tell you though.”

“You seemed pretty interested in the piloting course.”

This prompted Keith to whip away from the desk in front of him and look directly at Shiro with near-frightening intensity.

Purple eyes lit up with an emotion that couldn’t seem to reach the rest of the boy’s face. “What about it?”

“I’m one of the pilots.”

“Really?” Keith seemed as if he was about to burst, despite the lack of emotion on his face.

“Mhm. I could give you a tour of the Garrison. Maybe even take you on a test flight.”

“Really?!” A smile finally appeared on the boy’s face as he turned to fully face Shiro.

Shiro beamed. “Of course! I could even put in a good word for you if you wanted.”

The smile faded. What had he done wrong? “Like… apply to the Garrison?”

“If you’re really that interested, I don’t see why not.”

Any excitement faded from Keith’s face as he went even paler. “But I don’t have any… it’s… isn’t it expensive?”

Oh. “Um…” Come on. Think. “Uh… I’ll tell you what, Keith. Your teacher tells me your grades have been dropping lately. Is that true?”

Keith’s cheeks colored slightly as he nodded in embarrassment.

“Well, if you can get those grades up, and keep them up, you could... probably get a scholarship. Of course, you’d also have to take the pilot’s exam, but- “

“You mean I could really go to the Garrison?” The hope in Keith’s eyes is what he’d been going for.

He smiled, warm and sincere. “Yeah. Yeah, you can.”

Keith stared at him in awe as a grin slowly spread itself across the boy’s face. Shiro stood and put a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “See you at the Garrison next year?”

Keith nodded his head rapidly. “Yeah. Yes.”

Shiro held back a smirk, quirking an eyebrow and holding out his hand again. “Promise?”

A near-giddy Keith grabbed his hand. “Promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!! This is the first thing I've actually written (and finished) for VLD, so I hope you like it! Comments always encouraged and appreciated <3
> 
> Follow me on tumblr: http://fire-filia.tumblr.com/ (multifandom) or https://chez-shay.tumblr.com/ if you like VLD


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